help with vegetable garden rife with sand & wood chips

hi all,
i'm going to plant a small vegetable garden in our backyard. Currently
an entire section of the back is piled with woodchips and in some spots
several inches deep with sand. This was something the previous owners
of our home did - probably because of kids and dogs. What measures
should i take? I know that getting the woodchips out and potentially
relocated is a prerequisite but have wondered about the sand issue. If
my garden will not physically be planted in the spots where the sand
is, is it still necessary to get rid of it?
Also, since we are in a city (chicago), is it unwise to plant directly
into the ground? Am I better off planting in a raised bed filled with
topsoil and compost? I should mention that in spite of the woodchips
and the sand, the soil is rich and moist.
thanks!

Tom J westridgegarden wrote:
hi all,
i'm going to plant a small vegetable garden in our backyard.
Currently
an entire section of the back is piled with woodchips and in some
spots several inches deep with sand.
Also, since we are in a city (chicago), is it unwise to plant
directly
into the ground? Am I better off planting in a raised bed filled
with
topsoil and compost? I should mention that in spite of the woodchips
and the sand, the soil is rich and moist.
In that case, I would scatter the sand & chips over a wider area, rent
a rototiller and till it all in to 6 or 8 inches, plant and enjoy.
Unless you are on top of the old city dump!!
Tom J
i agree with Tom J i would also scatter the woodchips and sand to
wider area and rototill it all in. why get rid of something that i
beneficial to your garden. good luck, sockiescat
--
sockiescat

Some questions I have regarding this approach.
How big are the wood chips?
How long do you want to wait until you plant a vege garden?
What will the woodchips do in the soil whilst decaying?
There is a difference between hunking big bark chips versus small mulched
wood. Are the chips treated wood? If the chips are large I would not simply
till them into the soil myself without at least mulching them further. If
treated, I would not plough them in to the soil at all. If you plan to keep
them, I would suggest a long period of composting.
If you plan to plant a vege garden straight away you may need to add extra
soil or compost to the area you dig over. Reasons being, wood chip can suck
nitrogen from the soil (although it will be replaced when the chip is rotted
away) as it breaks down and a thick mulch of chip in the soil may hinder
plant growth. Adding extra soil will simply mean less chip per square metre.
Adding some organic matter such as compost or even better rotted animal poop
will add nitrogen to the soil (as the wood chip temporarily strips it out)
as well as extra matter to increase the soil-wood chip ratio. It will also
help bind the sand together.
Better still, making a raised garden will, most likely, help solve some of
those problems above and provide other benefits as well.
If you plan to put in a garden in a few months then the wood chip decaying
in the soil won't make much difference at all. Rotovate and leave.
My thoughts only, given with imperfect knowledge.
rob

If you have good rich soil you don't need the sand.
Mel & Donnie down in Bluebird Valley In the middle of beautiful down
town Yountsville. Managers of the water works.
http://community.webtv.net/MelDKelly/doc
http://community.webtv.net/MelDKelly/MelDonniesBluebird

But the sand is already there!! Something has to be done with the
sand!! It's not going to hurt the garden to spread the sand and till
it in. Beats having someone cart it to the dump.
The original post said the soil was rich and moist, so the sand &
chips are not going to hurt the soil. Some extra nitrogen may be need
the 1st year while the wood chips decay, but a little Miracle Grow
will take care of that. :-)
Tom J

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